Commando MERLINS - From 2016, the MERLIN will be the mainstay of operations by the Yeovilton  based Commando Helicopter Force, and now  more than forty aircrew and engineers are laying the foundations for the future by getting to grips with its new aircraft – helped by the RAF.    Since February 2012 Fleet Air Arm engineers – followed in April 2012 by six pilots and six aircrewmen  have been at RAF Benson (Oxfordshire), where the RAF MERLINs are based.    The MERLIN Mk.3 can carry two dozen troops with kit, or in a ‘flying ambulance’ role, 16 casualties on stretchers.      It can also lift artillery pieces, Land Rovers, or five tonnes of equipment slung beneath it if required.    It does not have a sonar and submarine hunting kit, rather a stern ramp for troops to climb on and off.